1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is heat sinks for distributing a thermal load.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, users have relied on computer systems to simplify the process of information management. Today's computer systems are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Such modem computer systems deliver powerful computing resources to provide a wide range of information management capabilities through the use of computer software such as database management systems, word processors, spreadsheets, client/server applications, web services, and so on.
In order to deliver powerful computing resources, computer system designers must design powerful computer processors. Current computer processors, for example, are capable of executing billions of computer program instructions per second. Operating these computer processors requires a significant amount of power, and often such processors can consume over 100 watts. Consuming significant amounts of power generates a considerable amount of heat. Unless the heat is removed, heat generated by a computer processor may degrade or destroy the processor's functionality.
To prevent the degradation or destruction of a computer processor, a computer architect may remove heat from the processor by using heat sinks, fans, heat pipes, or even refrigeration systems. Current heat sinks, however, only provide one or two cooling surfaces with attached fins for dissipating the heat absorbed by the heat sinks. Such heat sinks are often unable to remove the heat necessary to prevent damage to today's computer processors because physical limitations may prevent a system designer from designing cooling surface large enough or fins tall enough to dissipate the required amount of heat from the processor. Combining a fan with a heat sink may improve the ability to remove heat from the computer processor, but such a combination also may not be sufficient to prevent damage to today's computer processors. Heat pipes attached to a computer processor are capable of removing large quantities of heat from the computer processor, but heat pipes may not be an option where a system designer requires a local cooling solution. Refrigeration systems also effectively remove heat, but such systems are typically large and expensive.